More look at Disc talents as PVP-BG

I’ve spent some time pondering my talent choices. To briefly summarize, I copied some decently rated Disc priest’s choices with only one or two changes just to have a working base. I knew I’d be tweaking. This is… pretweak, really.
The talent that’s really and truly caught my eye is improved mana burn.

With the talent (2/2) it’s 2 seconds instead of 3 to cast. Add in the fact it’s 30 yards and it is no longer the “looks nice but low value in PVP” that is Mind Control. (snicker. 10 seconds of mind control in PVP. Fun while it lasts, IF you can get it off.) That said… I’m not really convinced that in BG-PVP it’s that good a deal either. Arena – yes, cold. But in the chaos that’s BG…

It’s essentially worthless on a warlock. (siphon life/life tap – the warlock’s perpetual motion machine.) Mages have such huge pools of mana – especially if using a few stones – that unless they’ve already burned a lot it’s not going to have significant impact. It IS of use against paladins, CAN BE of use against druids (noting innervate as a counter), and is of moderate use against shamans unless/until they pop a totem or two. It’s useful against hunters if you can get inside their range without being noticed — their surprisingly small pool is especially vulnerable. Priests have large enough pools that, well, it would take 11 casts — 33 (or 22) seconds with no lag — to drain my pool. Rogues (AGAIN) and Warriors scoff at the spell.

It is not useless. And working with another mana burner, especially with the opponent burning mana with spells, can be critical. But…

But I’m not certain it really is of use in a BG, where the player comes back at you no more than 30 seconds later. That’s the real kicker, I think. The fact that in BGs a death is basically a “time out”.

At this point in time it sits on top of my list of talent points to move. I’m not going to move any, of course, till I get past this weekend. And I’m going to make a conscious attempt to use it when possible. But mostly I’m healing – damage is very secondary – and so I’m not sure it’s going to be useful ENOUGH – even at 2 seconds instead of 3. And that last reiteration is the big thing. The talent points don’t give me the spell or improve its effect. It’s “just” faster. But it’s not quite in my preferred zone, so…

I’ve found it… situationally useful. IF there are enough shammy/druid healers in the immediate vicinity, then yes, it can be good for a giggle, but like most offensive spells if you’re healing, it needs a switch of mentality to utilise. You need to stop targeting your folks and switch to the enemy. That done, you need to find some1 with a smallish mana pool who’s already burned half of it and IS IN RANGE. Outside of WSG, this can be difficult to arrange, and in any case involves getting far closer to the general melee than is really comfortable. I’ve only used it untalented (manaburning combat pallies & other heal-tanking priests) and it is, frankly, and IMO, a waste of time. Switching between heal thinking and attack thinking is hard work. Talented, maybe, it has a place – but the attitude switch is still difficult.

About…

I've experience with many priests of many races and specs on several servers. The more I play, the more I realize how much I do not yet know. This is a share of some of what I have learned.
My main these days is Zingiber on the Undermine server.